Playing for Pizza: A Novel

Rick Dockery was the third-string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. In a championship game, to the surprise and dismay of everyone, Rick actually got into the game and then provided what was arguably the worst single performance in the history of the NFL. Overnight, he became a national laughingstock and, of course, was immediately cut by the Browns and shunned by all other teams. But against enormous odds, Arnie finally locates another team that will have him: the mighty Panthers of Parma, Italy.

Ford County: Stories

John Grisham returns to Ford County, Mississippi, the setting of his immensely popular first novel, A Time to Kill. This wholly surprising collection of stories reminds us once again why Grisham is America's favorite storyteller.

Bleachers

High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was the best quarterback to play for the Messina Spartans. 15 years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into a football dynasty. Now, as Coach Rake's "boys" sit in the bleachers waiting for the dimming field lights to signal his passing, they replay the old games, relive the old glories, and try to decide once and for all whether they love Eddie Rake  or hate him.

The Litigators

The incomparable master of the legal thriller takes us deeper into the labyrinth that is the American justice system, always drawing us in with an irresistible hook, pulling the thread of tension tighter and tighter, and then knocking us out with a conclusion that's never "by the book". Maybe that's why, after more than 20 years of consecutive number-one New York Times best sellers, a new novel by America's favorite storyteller is still a major publishing event.

The Whistler

Lacy Stoltz is an investigator for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct. She is a lawyer, not a cop, and it is her job to respond to complaints dealing with judicial misconduct. After nine years with the board, she knows that most problems are caused by incompetence, not corruption. But a corruption case eventually crosses her desk. A previously disbarred lawyer is back in business with a new identity. He now goes by the name Greg Myers, and he claims to know of a Florida judge who has stolen more money than all other crooked judges combined.

Gray Mountain

The year is 2008 and Samantha Kofer's career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track - until the recession hits and she gets downsized, furloughed, escorted out of the building. Samantha, though, is one of the "lucky" associates. She's offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid clinic for one year without pay, after which there would be a slim chance that she'd get her old job back. In a matter of days Samantha moves from Manhattan to Brady, Virginia, population 2,200, in the heart of Appalachia, a part of the world she has only read about.

The Racketeer

Given the importance of what they do, and the controversies that often surround them, and the violent people they sometimes confront, it is remarkable that in the history of this country only four active federal judges have been murdered. Judge Raymond Fawcett has just become number five.... Nothing is as it seems and everything’s fair game in this wickedly clever new novel from John Grisham, the undisputed master of the legal thriller.

A Painted House

In a departure from the legal thriller genre, John Grisham's latest novel draws inspiration from his own rural childhood in Arkansas. Listen and enjoy this moving tale about a 7-year-old boy and the dose of reality that comes, one autumn during the harvest, to take away his innocence. Also available abridged.

The Associate: A Novel

Kyle McAvoy grew up in his father's small-town law office in York, Pennsylvania. He excelled in college, was elected editor-in-chief of The Yale Law Journal, and his future has limitless potential. But Kyle has a secret, a dark one, an episode from college that he has tried to forget. The secret, though, falls into the hands of the wrong people, and Kyle is forced to take a job he doesn't want, even if it's a job most law students can only dream about....

The Broker

In his final hours in the Oval Office, the outgoing President grants a controversial last-minute pardon to Joel Backman, a notorious Washington power broker who has spent the last six years hidden away in a federal prison. What no one knows is that the President issues the pardon only after receiving enormous pressure from the CIA. It seems Backman, in his power broker heyday, may have obtained secrets that compromise the world's most sophisticated satellite surveillance system.

The Last Juror

In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colorful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt. To the surprise and dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23 year-old college dropout, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, and his newspaper began to prosper.

The Testament

Troy Phelan is a self-made billionaire, one of the richest men in the United States. He is also eccentric, reclusive, confined to a wheelchair, and looking for a way to die. His potential heirs, to no one's surprise - especially Troy's - are circling like vultures. But Troy shocks them all when he leaves his fortune to an estranged, illegitimate daughter.

The Confession: A Novel

An innocent man is about to be executed. Only a guilty man can save him. Travis Boyette is such a man. In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high-school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.

Sycamore Row

Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier. The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly?

The Rainmaker

It's summer in Memphis. The sweat is sticking to Rudy Baylor's shirt and creditors are nipping at his heels. Once he had aspirations of breezing through law school and punching his ticket to the good life. Now he doesn't have a joy or a prayer...except for one: an insurance dispute that leaves a family devastated and opens the door for a lawsuit, if Rudy can find a way to file it.

The Street Lawyer

Michael was in a hurry. He was scrambling up the ladder at Drake & Sweeney, a giant D.C. firm with 800 lawyers. The money was good and getting better; a partnership was 3 years away. He was a rising star with no time to waste, no time to stop, no time to toss a few coins into the cups of panhandlers. No time for a conscience. But a violent encounter with a homeless man stopped him cold. Also available abridged.

Publisher's Summary

A surprising and moving novel of fathers and sons, forgiveness and redemption, set in the world of Major League Baseball….

Whatever happened to Calico Joe?

It began quietly enough with a pulled hamstring. The first baseman for the Cubs AAA affiliate in Wichita went down as he rounded third and headed for home. The next day, Jim Hickman, the first baseman for the Cubs, injured his back. The team suddenly needed someone to play first, so they reached down to their AA club in Midland, Texas, and called up a 21-year-old named Joe Castle. He was the hottest player in AA and creating a buzz.

In the summer of 1973, Joe Castle was the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone had ever seen. The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas, dazzled Cub fans as he hit home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shattered all rookie records.

Calico Joe quickly became the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing Mets pitcher. On the day that Warren Tracey finally faced Calico Joe, Paul was in the stands, rooting for his idol but also for his dad. Then Warren threw a fastball that would change their lives forever….

In John Grisham’s new novel, the baseball is thrilling, but it’s what happens off the field that makes Calico Joe a classic.

In order to be fair I will have to go back and rate many of Grisham's previous books as all five stars; but this one was terrible. It was shallow, predictable, grossly overpriced for a four hour book - and to a true baseball fan completely unbelievable.

Would you ever listen to anything by John Grisham again?

Sure; he is a great writer who had a bad at bat.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes, it was slow and boring too.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Calico Joe?

Everything after the title. It had promise.

Any additional comments?

My son played John Grisham's son Ty in a baseball game in Jacksonville in the early 90s. He clearly loves the game, and has done a lot of good things with his money for kids in general and sports in particular.

He is a wonderful man, an excellent author. . .this book is beneath him.

This is a sweet story and the first two thirds of the book are a pleasant listen. I was invested in the characters, I was was interested in hearing how it ended. Then things slowed way down and came to a coughing, grinding halt at the end. In the past, I have appreciated Grisham's non-traditional endings, but this one seemed like he needed to put a little more effort into it.

A MUST READ for all baseball fans!!! Brings back memories from your own favorite teams---- Cincinnitti pitcher hitting Cardinal's Pujols on his broken wrist last year---remembrance for me. We all love our teams and players!! I happened to finish this book on Friday, April13, when the Cubs beat my Cardinals 8-5, when one of our great pitchers, Wainright, pitched on comeback from Tommy John's surgery. I so wanted him to do great! So, we all have our great memories!!

Hitting on the head-----terrible. Really enjoyed hearing ( I listened on Audible) this story of a great player I had not heard about, but so glad I have now. Once again, personal memories. The Cardinals new manager is the youngest rookie manager in the National League. And why is he still not playing the game---head concussions!!

BUT-- this book is also great as a father-son relationship book. Best one I've read since Pat Conroy's "The Great Santini"!! Children are not the only bullies that need to STOP BULLING!! Kids have dreams that often get destroyed by their parents bullying! This book shows the results of that in a wonderfully, emotionally, literary story! Thanks, John Grisham!

This is a baseball story, but it is, mainly, a 'people' story. It brings together very different individuals, including the young, & impressionable, boy who idolizes Calico Joe, the young ball player just breaking into the big time. This boy is, also, the son of a Major League pitcher, who loves his son in his own way, but tries to instil his own values and beliefs into his son, through the use of force and strict discipline.The boy's idol, Calico Joe, and the boy's father, are bound to cross paths, with their respective teams, during the Major League baseball season.These three people are the main characters of the story, which takes place during one fateful summer, but actually unfolds over a period of years.

I found this a good listen, but be sure you are aware this is not the law-and-order Grisham writing.

But it was well done if you like this genre. Most of the book has me thinking about the terrible tragedy of a young baseball star Joe who was injured with permanent brain damage. This was done on purpose by a malicious pitcher who wanted to hurt Joe. The publisher’s summary mentions forgiveness and redemption, so I confirm that this happens. But it didn’t feel good to me. It felt too-little-too-late. There are many readers who will enjoy this, but it’s not for me. The author has done some great entertainment in the past, but this book is not entertaining. It’s introspective.

I’ve always loved Grisham for his character creation. And I liked seeing the creation of Warren the pitcher. Warren was a self-absorbed, philandering, wife-beating drunk. He was mean. He hurt his children. I liked reading about him because I’ve seen and known men like this. I liked the acknowledgment that they exist. Confirmation provides comfort somehow.

The narrator Erik Singer was excellent. This book is shorter than a typical novel - maybe a third the length.